Exciting things are happening in the world of rowing. Exactly 132 years after rowing’s Olympic debut, a new rowing event, Beach Sprint rowing (a type of coastal rowing), will debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Viewers around the world can look forward to watching U.S. rowers battle the surf and battle the world’s top competitors. Equally exciting, Co-founders Ben Booth and Dennis Loebs of NEXT Boatworks have designed first-of-their-kind coastal boats for superior performance in Beach Sprinting that will not only help U.S. Olympians compete but launch a rowing revolution among rowers and non-rowers alike.
Dennis explains, “We envision a world where people of all levels enjoy on-water rowing for fun, fitness, and recreation. NEXT Boatworks is designing boats that make it possible for anyone to get rowing and for 2028 Olympic Beach Sprint hopefuls to maximize their performance in the surf zone.”
Traditional sliding seat row boats have been featured in the Olympics for over 100 years. They have been optimized for straight-line drag racing on flat water. Casual and recreational users have been left on the shore because classic boats are extremely tender, demand a major training commitment, and water access is restricted primarily to private boathouses. Moreover, traditional racing boats are unsuitable for the “real world” conditions found away from sheltered rivers and lakes.
Coastal boat designs arrived in Europe about fifteen years ago to address this problem, but they remain stuck in a design rut; they don’t perform well in waves, wind, and surf. They are also prone to leaking, which can render them unsafe for long-term coastal use, where help may be miles away.NEXT BOATWORK founders have changed all that. Dennis, a successful serial entrepreneur and Ben, an elite coastal rowing pioneer and coach of World Champion coastal rowers, have come together and crafted a new class of boats built specifically for surf, crosswinds, and all the other unpredictable conditions that arise in coastal waters. On top of that, their boats meet World Rowing competition regulations.
“By the time we met in 2015, Ben had been designing boats for years.” Dennis shares.
“As a competitor in coastal rowing events,” Ben explains, "I have a demanding set of requirements for what I want in a boat, and I could not find anything on the market that suited me. So I got into boat design and started building the boats I dreamt of.”
Meanwhile, Dennis and his wife had rowed on indoor machines and purchased a few coastal boats from Europe but were underwhelmed with the boat designs.
Once Ben and Dennis got talking about a boat design that could handle true coastal conditions with aplomb, a plan emerged. The result, the NEXT Boatworks flagship boat, the Prophet CF, is a radical departure from the field, an engineering tour de force, and, according to many, a floating work of art.
“Almost every single part in this boat is designed and made in-house. Other boats use standard hardware common in the flatwater boat industry. With the Prophet, we started with a blank slate and designed each part from scratch for all-condition coastal rowing. In the end, the only commercially available parts included in the build were the oarlocks. We designed our seat system from scratch; we designed our foot stretcher system from scratch, and we designed an adjustable fin system,” and on and on.
Since the debut of the Prophet, Ben and Dennis went back to the drawing board to create a boat with a lower price point to make it accessible to a broader market. “Innovating is what we both do naturally. We design stuff that nobody's done before, and we continually refine and improve our designs.”
The new model, the Remedy, has been successfully prototyped and is set to begin international production in the first quarter of 2024. The initial iteration is targeted to be priced competitively at under $6,000 for a single (C1X class). A rotomolded version of the Remedy designed for the entry-level market, with a price point below $4,000, will be introduced later in 2024.
NEXT Boatworks designs stand alone. Dennis adds, “The bottom line is we are the only boat builder in this space with hulls designed by an experienced, large-wave coastal rower. ” As Ben explains, “I’ve always been drawn to the extreme aspects of coastal rowing…riding waves and getting out in rough water. To have a boat that truly thrives in these conditions was always a major focus in my design inspiration.” Other boats in the coastal class don’t perform well in conditions common to open waters.
One salient design feature that sets both the Prophet and the Remedy apart is their tapered sterns. By minimizing wetted surface area and turbulence, the glide is maximized, which appeals to rowers of all levels.
The distinctive stern design gave rise to another feature unique to NEXT Boatworks: side drains. “We're the only boat in this class with drains on the side.” With less water on board and a shorter path out of the boat, performance in waves is improved compared to competing designs.
Ben and Dennis also designed the first adjustable fin in the coastal class. Ben explains, “We redesigned the fin to be easily adjustable and removable by the rower right from the cockpit to avoid any issues with coming into the beach.” This game-changing feature solves an issue common to every other boat in the coastal class: delicate fins fixed to the bottom of the hull that tend to break whenever you put the boat on the beach.
These are not the only features exclusive to NEXT Boatworks designs. Other novel features focused on coastal rowing include leak-proof fittings for seaworthiness, wider seats and seat tracks, and wider foot braces for better balance in rough-and-tumble coastal waters.
NEXT Boatworks boats are arriving just in time, too. “The new Remedy model is due to arrive in time for the 2024 U.S. Rowing Beach Sprint Series.” Dennis shares excitedly. That series will comprise the first-ever races organized by U.S. Rowing to begin attracting and qualifying athletes for the 2028 L.A. Summer Games.
Whether you are a current rowing enthusiast, a competitive rower, or just “rowing-curious,” NEXT Boatworks is on to something exciting. Their boats mix accessibility, top-notch performance, and innovation to shake things up for Olympic athletes, rowing fans, and outdoor enthusiasts of all levels and ages.
To get a look at their fabulous designs, check out NEXT Boatworks.
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